Liquid container having cap with slit valve

ABSTRACT

A liquid container according to the present invention includes a container body ( 1 ) that can be resiliently deformed when grasped and pressed by user, and a cap ( 2 ) secured to a mouth portion of the container body ( 1 ). The cap ( 2 ) includes a cap body ( 2   a ) having an opening (O) in communication with interior of the container, and a slit valve ( 2   b ) having slits that can be opened to discharge a desired amount of a liquid within the container, with the container tilted and the container body ( 1 ) pressed. Further, the slits include a first slit (S 1 ) that extends in a direction (T) in which the container is to be tilted, and a second slit (S 2 ) intersecting with the first slit (S 1 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a liquid container comprising acap with a slit valve, and contemplates to improve shut-off performanceupon discharge of various kinds of contents and effectively avoidmalfunctioning of the valve or contamination of the cap due toattachment or solidification of the contents around the dischargeopening.

[0003] 2. Prior Art

[0004] A liquid container for cosmetics or detergent is known, which isprovided with a slit valve for allowing discharge of a desired amount ofcontents and good shut-off performance upon discharge of the contents.Such a liquid container is disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,033,the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. Typically,a slit valve has slits that are arranged in the form of a cross, so asto discharge a desired amount of contents by grasping and pressurizingthe container body to increase the inner pressure, and therebyinstantaneously open the slit portion that is situated at the centerregion of the valve.

[0005] Conventional slit valve operates satisfactorily, when thecontents is a highly viscose liquid, such as creamy substance. However,when the contents is a liquid with low viscosity, such as oil-basedcosmetics or vegetable oil, due to insufficient shut-off performanceupon discharge of the contents, it is inevitable that the contentsremains attached to the tip end portion of the valve. When the attachedcontents is left as it is, the contents undergoes solidification andoften adversely affects the opening motion of the valve or causescontamination at the periphery of the discharge opening.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is therefore a primary object of the present invention toprovide a novel liquid container comprising a cap with a slit valve thatexhibits a satisfactory shut-off performance of the contents upondischarge.

[0007] To this end, the present invention provides liquid containercomprising a container body that can be resiliently deformed whengrasped and pressed by user, and a cap secured to a mouth portion of thecontainer body. The cap comprises a cap body having an opening incommunication with interior of the container, and a slit valve havingslits that can be opened to discharge a desired amount of a liquidwithin the container, with the container tilted and the container bodypressed. Further, the slits comprise a first slit that extends in adirection in which the container is to be tilted, and a second slitintersecting with the first slit.

[0008] Since, according to the present invention, the slits of the slitvalve provided for the cap comprise a first slit that extends in adirection in which the container is to be tilted, and a second slitintersecting with the first slit, it is possible to achieve improvedshut-off performance upon discharge of the contents irrespectively ofits viscosity, and thereby effectively avoid malfunctioning of the valveor contamination at the periphery of the discharge opening due toattachment or solidification of the contents.

[0009] It is preferred that container body has a cross-sectional shapethat determines the direction in which said container is to be tilted asit is grasped by user. In this instance, it is preferred that thecontainer body has a flat cross-sectional shape, and it is particularlypreferred that one of said first slit and said second slit of the slitvalve extends in a direction of major axis of the container as seen inits cross-section, and the other of said first slit and said second slitextends in a direction of minor axis of the container

[0010] It is preferred that the cap further comprises a cover that ishinge-connected to the cap main body so as to be movable between aclosed position where it is engaged by the cap main body and an openposition exposing said slit valve.

[0011] Moreover, it is preferred that the liquid container according tothe present invention further comprises a valve retainer that cooperateswith the cap main body to hold the slit valve, and positioning means fordetermining an angular position of the valve retainer relative to thecap main body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The present invention will be described below in further detail,with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the accompanyingdrawings.

[0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the liquidcontainer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0014]FIGS. 2A and 2B are plan view and sectional view, respectively, ofthe cap shown in FIG. 1.

[0015]FIG. 3 is a view explaining the manner of incorporating a valveinto the cap main body.

[0016]FIG. 4 is a view explaining a state in which the content isattached to the tip end portion of the valve.

[0017]FIGS. 5A and 5B are bottom view and sectional view, respectively,of the valve positioning means.

[0018]FIG. 6 is a view useful for analyzing the tilting behavior ofuser's hand grasping an object.

[0019]FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the liquidcontainer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0020] There is shown, in FIG. 1, a liquid container according to oneembodiment of the present invention, which comprises a cap with a slitvalve. Reference numeral 1 designates a generally cylindrical containerbody, and 2 a cap that is secured to a mouth portion of the containerbody 1.

[0021] As shown in the plan view and sectional view of FIGS. 2A and 2B,the cap 2 has an opening 0 that is in communication with the interior ofthe container body 1, and is comprised of a cap body 2 a threadedlyconnected to the mouth portion of the container body 1, a slit valve 2 barranged at the opening 0 of the cap body 2 a, and clamped between thecap body 2 a and a valve retainer 3 and thereby fixedly held in place,as well as a cover 2 c for covering the slit valve 2 b and detachablyhold by the can body 2 a, wherein the cover 2 c may be of ahinge-connection type.

[0022] The slit valve 2 b has a tip end portion that is formed withcross-like slits comprised of a first slit S₁ extending along adirection T in which the container is to be tilted, and a second slit S₂intersecting at right angles with the first silt S₁.

[0023] With reference to FIG. 6, analysis is made of tilting movement ofuser's hand when grasping an object such as a liquid contained In manyinstance, the tilting movement of the hand is classified into a twistingmovement about a longitudinal axis x-x of the forearm, a twistingmovement about an axis y-y that passes the wrist and is substantiallyperpendicular to the general surface of the palm, and a twistingmovement about an axis z-z of the wrist, which is substantially parallelto the general surface of the palm, wherein the tree axes x-x, y-y, z-zare perpendicular to each other.

[0024] In conventional cap provided with a slit valve, an exact controlis not performed for positioning the valve relative to the cap body and,hence, to the container body. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the valve ismounted without taking into consideration the direction in which theliquid container is tilted. In this instance, when the liquid containeris tilted to discharge the contents, the shut-off performance may not besatisfactory depending upon properties of the contents, giving rise to asituation wherein the contents remain attached to the tip end portion ofthe valve, and resulting in obstacle to opening operation of the valve,or contamination at the periphery of the discharge opening.

[0025] In the cap according to the present invention, the slit S₁ of theslit valve extends in the direction T in which the container is to betilted. Thus, when pressure is released from the container body and avacuum pressure is thereby produced in the container so that the valveis operated from the open position to the closing position, the contentsat the tip end portion of the valve is sucked back into the containerbody to realize a satisfactory shut-off performance even in the case ofcontents having a low viscosity.

[0026] In order to perform positioning of the slits S₁, S₂ when the slitvalve 2 b is mounted into the cap body 2 a, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B,the valve retainer 3 is provided with projections 3 a, while the capbody 2 a for supporting the valve retainer 3 is provided with recesses“h” corresponding to the projections 3 a. The slit valve 2 a and thevalve retainer 3 are previously positioned relative to each other sothat, when the projections 3 a of the valve retainer 3 are engaged withthe recesses “h”, the slit S₁ is aligned in the direction in which thecontainer is tilted. The positioning structure is illustrated in FIGS.5A and 5B with reference to an example wherein the valve retainer 3 andthe valve body 2 a are fittingly engaged with each other. However, thepresent invention is not limited to such a structure, and other fittingform may be applied, besides that fusion bonding means or adhesion meansmay be adopted, as may be appropriately selected.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, in the case of a cap having a cover 2 c ofhinge-type, when the container is tilted so that the cap is orientedupwards, the slit S₁ of the slit valve extends in the tilting directionT. It is thus possible to avoid discharge of the contents in a state asshown in FIG. 4.

[0028]FIG. 7 shows another embodiment wherein the present invention isapplied to a container of tube-type, wherein the container body has aflat sectional shape. The cap 2 secured to such container has a cover 2c that can be detached from the cap body 2 a. The cap is secured so thatthe slit S₁ of the slit valve extends in the tilting direction T of thecontainer, assuming that the contents are discharged by tilting thecontainer with its wide sides directed upwards and downwards. In thisembodiment, also, to the extent that the slit S₁ of the slit valveextends in the tilting direction T of the container, it is possible toachieve an improved shut-off performance of the liquid.

[0029] Incidentally, also when the container shown in FIG. 7 is tiltedwith its narrow sides directed upwards and downwards, the slits S₂extends in the tilting direction T so as to improve theshut-off-performance of the liquid.

[0030] The direction T in which the container is tilted may bedetermined by appropriately designing the securing position of thehinge-type cover or the shape of the container body. Besides, it is alsopossible to indicate the direction in which the container is to betilted for discharging the contents, by applying an arrow or the likemarking (not shown) to the cap or the container body.

[0031] According to the present invention, it is possible to achieveimproved shut-off performance upon discharge of the contentsirrespectively of its viscosity, and thereby effectively avoidmalfunctioning of the valve or contamination at the periphery of thedischarge opening due to attachment or solidification of the contents.

[0032] It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limitedto the above-mentioned embodiments and it may be carried out withvarious modified forms.

1. A liquid container comprising a container body that can beresiliently deformed when grasped and pressed by a user, and a capesecured to a mouth portion of the container body, said cape comprising acap body having an opening in communication with an interior of thecontainer; a slit valve having slits that can be opened to discharge adesired amount of a liquid within the container, with the containertilted and the container body pressed, wherein said slits comprise afirst slit that extends in a direction (T) in which said container is tobe tilted, and a second slit intersecting with said first slit a valveretainer that cooperates with the cap body to hold the slit valve; and apositioner that defines an angular position of the valve retainerrelative to the cap body.
 2. The liquid container according to claim 1,wherein said container body has a cross-sectional shape that determinesthe direction (T) in which said container is to be tilted as it isgrasped by the user.
 3. The liquid container according to claim 2,wherein said container body has a flat cross-sectional shape.
 4. Theliquid container according to claim 3, wherein one of said first slitand said second slit of the slit valves extends in a direction of majoraxis of the container as seen in its cross-section, and the other ofsaid first slit and said second slit extends in a direction of minoraxis of the container.
 5. The liquid container according to claim 1,wherein said cap further comprises a cover that is hinge-connected tothe cap main body so as to be movable between a closed position where itis engaged by the cap main body and an open position exposing said slitvalve.
 6. (Canceled)
 7. The liquid container according to claim 1,wherein the positioner comprises at least one projection provided on thevalve retainer and at least one recess formed in the cap body, the atleast one recess corresponding to the at least one projection such thatwhen the at least one projection is engaged with the at least onerecess, the first slit is aligned in the direction (T) in which thecontainer is to be tilted.